News

David Love of the Atlanta Black Star published a feature report on the Haitian Migrant Border Crisis. Read the excerpt below from BIN member leader Ninaj Raoul of Haitian Women of Haitian Refugees. Criminalization of Haitian Refugees

Ninaj Raoul, executive director of Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees, told Atlanta Black Star that the U.S. has vacillated between automatically detaining and deporting Haitian refugees on the one hand, and temporarily ceasing their removal due to earthquakes and hurricanes in recent years on the other. Now, the tide has shifted once again amid an increase in Haitian refugees crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.

As the crisis of Haitan migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border grows, US Congresswoman Yvette D Clarke has urged the Obama administration to immediately halt the deportation of undocumented Haitians and called for community based alternatives to immigrant detention. Herself a the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, Clarke has been a leading voice in Congress on issues impacting Black immigrants. Since the Department of Homeland Security resumed deportations to Haiti on September 22, in response the influx of Haitan refugees at the border, Clarke has been active in speaking out and uniting with colleagues in the House and Senate in calling for a return to humanitarian policies.

“These deportations will return thousands of Haitians to a country that continues to struggle with the devastation of Hurricane Matthew and the recent outbreak of cholera that was introduced by international aid workers responding to the 2010 earthquake,” she shared with Caribbean Life News.

“The current standards for detaining immigrants in the United States are unacceptable, threatening individuals who have been detained with isolation from the families and communities, the risk of physical and emotional harm, and even death,” she said to NY Carib News.

Leaders such as Yvette Clarke are needed in the fight for human rights and dignity for displaced Black immigrants in crisis.

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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has approved 110,000 visas including 16,000 for children yet, they remain on a wait list for up to more than 12 years - languishing in Haiti where their lives are at risk.
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#ReuniteHaitianFams: On October 29 we will unite our voices to call for a full Haitian American Family Reunification program. Join us!
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We invite you to show your support for the Haitian-American families by having your organization endorse this campaign and the need for the creation of a Haitian Family Reunification Parole Program.
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BLACK IMMIGRATION NETWORK

A national network of people and organizations serving black immigrant and African American communities who are focused on supporting fair and just immigration.
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